Brazil nuts and their properties

Nuts are probably the most nutritious, healthy products and are definitely the basis of a well-balanced diet. Unfortunately, a lot of people still believe the myth that they are too fatty and have too many calories to be considered as a permanent component of a light menu. Today, we will try to bust that myth, and we will do so with the example of my favourite, Brazilian nuts.

Brazilian nuts come from South America, mainly from the areas of Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Venezuela. They are not a crop, and all of them are collected from wild trees, wherein during the year one tree can produce between 220 to 440kg of those seed nuts.

Those unique nuts are characterized by their significant selenium content which, next to vitamin E, is an excellent antioxidant. A handful of Brazilian nuts exceeds the daily dose of this element several times, which pregnant women should pay special attention to. Furthermore, men should also take a note of the positive properties of Brazilian nuts. Selenium also improves the quality of sperm, and it provides sperm with adequate strength and movement speed.

These tasty nuts are also a rich source of phosphorus, which has positive effects on teeth and bones. It’s also worth remembering, that regularly including those nuts in the diet improves body’s resistance and has positive effects on the cardiovascular system. The characteristic distribution of fat in Brazil nuts also lowers bad cholesterol and improves blood pressure.

Brazilian nuts also contain arginine, an amino acid that has strong vasodilator properties, and inhibiting platelet aggregation. These advantages should be specially appreciated by athletes who train at the gym, as arginine is a popular ingredient in many pre-workout supplements, and it gives muscles a "pump".